Embedding Heegaard Decompositions

A smooth embedding of a closed $3$-manifold $M$ in $\mathbb{R}^4$ may generically be composed with projection to the fourth coordinate to determine a Morse function on $M$ and hence a Heegaard splitting $M=X\cup_\Sigma Y$. However, starting with a Heegaard splitting, we find an obstruction coming from the geometry of the curve complex $C(\Sigma)$ to realizing a corresponding embedding $M\hookrightarrow \mathbb{R}^4$.

ON THE MAXIMUM NUMBER OF PERIOD ANNULI FOR SECOND ORDER CONSERVATIVE EQUATIONS

We consider a second order scalar conservative differential equation whose potential function is a Morse function with a finite number of critical points and is unbounded at infinity. We give an upper bound for the number of nonglobal nontrivial period annuli of the equation and prove that the upper bound obtained is sharp. We use tree theory in our considerations.

Cusp cobordism group of Morse functions

By a Morse function on a compact manifold with boundary we mean a real-valued function without critical points near the boundary such that its critical points as well as the critical points of its restriction to the boundary are all nondegenerate. For such Morse functions, Saeki and Yamamoto have previously defined a certain notion of cusp cobordism, and computed the unoriented cusp cobordism group of Morse functions on surfaces. In this paper, we compute unoriented and oriented cusp cobordism groups of Morse functions on manifolds of any dimension by employing Levine’s cusp elimination technique as well as the complementary process of creating pairs of cusps along fold lines. We show that both groups are cyclic of order two in even dimensions, and cyclic of infinite order in odd dimensions. For Morse functions on surfaces our result yields an explicit description of Saeki–Yamamoto’s cobordism invariant which they constructed by means of the cohomology of the universal complex of singular fibers.

A Discrete Morse Perspective on Knot Projections and a Generalised Clock Theorem

We obtain a simple and complete characterisation of which matchings on the Tait graph of a knot diagram induce a discrete Morse function (dMf) on the two sphere, extending a construction due to Cohen. We show these dMfs are in bijection with certain rooted spanning forests in the Tait graph. We use this to count the number of such dMfs with a closed formula involving the graph Laplacian. We then simultaneously generalise Kauffman's Clock Theorem and Kenyon-Propp-Wilson's correspondence in two different directions; we first prove that the image of the correspondence induces a bijection on perfect dMfs, then we show that all perfect matchings, subject to an admissibility condition, are related by a finite sequence of click and clock moves. Finally, we study and compare the matching and discrete Morse complexes associated to the Tait graph, in terms of partial Kauffman states, and provide some computations.

WITTEN DEFORMATION FOR NONCOMPACT MANIFOLDS WITH BOUNDED GEOMETRY

Motivated by the Landau–Ginzburg model, we study the Witten deformation on a noncompact manifold with bounded geometry, together with some tameness condition on the growth of the Morse function f near infinity. We prove that the cohomology of the Witten deformation $d_{Tf}$ acting on the complex of smooth $L^2$ forms is isomorphic to the cohomology of the Thom–Smale complex of f as well as the relative cohomology of a certain pair $(M, U)$ for sufficiently large T. We establish an Agmon estimate for eigenforms of the Witten Laplacian which plays an essential role in identifying these cohomologies via Witten’s instanton complex, defined in terms of eigenspaces of the Witten Laplacian for small eigenvalues. As an application, we obtain the strong Morse inequalities in this setting.

Reversing orientation homeomorphisms of surfaces

Let $M$ be a connected compact orientable surface, $f:M\to \mathbb{R}$ be a Morse function, and $h:M\to M$ be a diffeomorphism which preserves $f$ in the sense that $f\circ h = f$. We will show that if $h$ leaves invariant each regular component of each level set of $f$ and reverses its orientation, then $h^2$ is isotopic to the identity map of $M$ via $f$-preserving isotopy. This statement can be regarded as a foliated and a homotopy analogue of a well known observation that every reversing orientation orthogonal isomorphism of a plane has order $2$, i.e. a mirror symmetry with respect to some line. The obtained results hold in fact for a larger class of maps with isolated singularities from compact orientable surfaces to the real line and the circle.

Topology of optimal flows with collective dynamics on closed orientable surfaces

We consider flows on a closed surface with one or more heteroclinic cycles that divide the surface into two regions. One of the region has gradient dynamics, like Morse fields. The other region has Hamiltonian dynamics generated by the field of the skew gradient of the simple Morse function. We construct the complete topological invariant of the flow using the Reeb and Oshemkov-Shark graphs and study its properties. We describe all possible structures of optimal flows with collective dynamics on oriented surfaces of genus no more than 2, both for flows containing a center and for flows without it.

Min-Max Theory for Cell Complexes

In the study of smooth functions on manifolds, min-max theory provides a mechanism for identifying critical values of a function. We introduce a discretized version of this theory associated to a discrete Morse function on a (regular) cell complex. As applications we prove a discrete version of the mountain pass lemma and give an alternate proof of a discrete Lusternik–Schnirelmann theorem.